Acts 4: 5-12 Ps. 23
1 John 3: 16-24 John 10: 11-18
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Advertisements often have disclaimers at the end of them, either in very small print, or if they are broadcast commercials, in very rapid language. They are those things that the creator of the ad is legally bound to tell you, but hopes you won’t catch, or simply won’t care about. Details about how the “results are not typical” or that the fabulous price “does not include taxes, title, or fees”. So it is in that spirit that I add this disclaimer to this sermon. “We are all going to participate in this sermon together.” Just so you know, going in, that the audience participation portion of the sermon (as I am prone to say) will be a bit more intentional today than it is on other days.
I love to hear people’s stories. I love to hear your stories. Stories of how you met and fell in love. Stories of when you were a young child attending Sunday School. Stories of what you studied in college. Stories of how you attended a Mariner’s game, hoping for a Mariner’s win and instead wound up on your feet cheering on the other team’s young pitcher who was about to pitch a perfect game. You have great stories. And sharing our stories with one another is how we get to know one another. Stories become a part of who we are as individuals and a part of who we are as a community of faith.
And we share stories fairly easily. It’s not hard to tell them….it’s kind of fun. Really, it’s a no brainer.
So, the first part of the participatory portion of this sermon is for us to take the next twenty seconds, because if we have to think about it for much longer than that, we’re working too hard, and recall a pleasant or fun or memorable event from this past week. It could be something as simple as getting to eat your favorite food, or visiting with a good friend, or that you started watching the show “Downton Abbey” on DVD, beginning with Season One, which is soooo addictive and soooo good….wait! That’s MY story!
So…twenty seconds, simply remember something good from this week. Go.
Twenty second pause
Now, what we’re going to do is turn to a person seated nearby and share what you came up with. In other words, I want you to tell each other the story. We’re going to take a few minutes to do this. If someone near you ends up without a partner, please invite them to join you.
Time for sharing
How did that sharing of stories feel? You know, if we were in the south, we’d be sitting in a rocking chair, on the front porch with a glass of sweet tea swapping stories. Or, in a time before we had so many technological distractions, we might share our stories at the end of the day.
But what about the stories of our faith? That’s a little bit harder, for everyone, I think, if we’re honest. To share the stories of what we believe about matters of such intimate and ultimate importance makes us vulnerable.
The United Methodist tradition began with a ‘method’ of meeting together in small groups and asking one another questions, then listening to the answers. One of those questions, which I think is a very profound one is “How is it with your soul?” What would happen if this were the question we asked one another in the same way we ask “How are you?”
Another question asked by the United Methodists was “Where have you seen God at work this week?”
In the first reading from Acts this morning, Peter is being questioned about how a lame man was healed. And those doing the questioning have names that are familiar to us and were familiar to Peter. Annas and Caiaphas were the same authorities who had questioned Jesus just before he was crucified. Peter had every reason to be wary of the story he was going to share with them. After all, if they would crucify Jesus they would surely do the same thing to Peter.
Instead, Peter boldly tells the story. Peter says that the man who was healed was healed in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom, Peter adds rather pointedly, you crucified but God raised from the dead. Where have you seen God at work this week, Peter? In the healing of the lame man. How is it with your soul, Peter? Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, surely it was well with his soul.
It is tempting, when asked where we have seen God, to give answers like in a rainbow, in the face of my baby, in the mountains, and those are fine and good and true answers. But it is equally important, I think, to name the places and the ways and the times we see God with us and at work in the world in times of struggle. In times of trial. It is important to note that we see God with the person who is very ill and fighting for health. It is important to note that we see God with victims of tornadoes and earthquakes and floods as they help one another piece their lives back together again. It is important because one of the places we have seen God is hanging on a cross. And that is a reminder to us that God is with us even in suffering.
Likewise when we ask “how is it with your soul?” we acknowledge that our souls belong to God. And that we belong to God in times that are easy and difficult, and that in the midst of both, our souls rest in God.
So, let me share a story with you. I was a brand new pastor when I met Marilyn. She had been diagnosed with a brain tumor in her late 60’s. She and Wayne were as close as any couple I’ve ever known and while she worried about him after she was gone, he worried about her. Marilyn continued to work and she lived with that brain tumor for much longer than anyone thought she would. One day Marilyn called me up and she said “Pastor, I need to tell my story in church.” I asked her if she remembered we were Lutheran. J She told me she wanted to share it by singing a hymn. She said that so many people thought she must be scared and devastated as she neared death, that she wanted them to know that she was alright.
Well, here’s the thing. Marilyn couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. And she knew it. So she asked if I would sing with her. Just stand behind me, kind of like a back up singer, she said. So on a beautiful sun lit morning, we stood there, the two of us and she reached for my hand and started to sing
When peace like a river attendeth my way; when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.
Dear friends, let us share our lives and our faith by sharing our stories. How is it with your soul? Where have you seen God at work today? And may we be thankful for the answers.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
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